


Glorious

by secooper87



Series: The Child of Balime [33]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who
Genre: Action/Adventure, Mystery, Psychological Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-09 12:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1145999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secooper87/pseuds/secooper87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seo is dead.  Glory-Seo has taken her place.  Which means now, it's a race against time, as Dawn and the Doctor struggle to get the real Seo back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Previously, in the Child of Balime…_

* * *

The Daleks needed two of them to end the universe. And Dawn had worked out that… well, with Daleks being so trigger-happy and hateful… she just had to provoke the Daleks so they killed her using an extermination beam. And couldn't kill her by accessing her Key energy, to destroy the universe.

She'd almost succeeded.

But then Seo had discovered what she was doing. Wrenched open her chains, and darted forwards, fast as she could, as the Daleks shouted:

"EXTERMINATE!"

The beam struck Seo full-on.

Seared through her, entire body lit up in a bright burst of light, skeleton shining through as a scream of utter agony was wrenched from her lips. It lasted only a moment, one blinding, horrible moment, before Seo dropped to the floor, by Dawn's feet.

Dead.

Dawn stared. Her heart pounding. Her brain unable to register it. No regeneration. No fake-outs. No nothing. Seo was dead. Really dead. Struck-down-by-a-Dalek dead.

That was supposed to be _Dawn_! Seo had been supposed to survive! She'd…

She'd…

She was…

"You killed her," Dawn breathed. The words burned in her throat. "You actually…!" She struggled, trying to suppress a horrible sob. "So go on! Kill me, too!"

The Daleks didn't move.

"Your experiment's useless!" cried Dawn. "The IPSA missiles will blast this whole ship into oblivion in a few seconds, anyways! So just do your damn job as the universe's mini-Hitlers and KILL ME, ALREADY!"

"THE EXPERIMENT HAS NOT BEEN COMPROMISED," said one of the Daleks.

Dawn's blood ran cold. "What?"

"DISK REGISTERS RAPIDLY RISING, CONTROLLED DIMENSIONAL ENERGY RESERVES," reported another. "DELTA TRANSFER HAD COMMENCED AT TIME OF EXTERMINATION. FULL MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CONTROL IMMINENT."

"CONTINUE WITH USE OF SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK!" shouted the Dalek in charge.

The Special Weapons Dalek advanced forwards.

No.

No!

Either of their deaths should have been enough to halt the end of the universe, but… it looked like Seo wasn't exactly like Dawn, after all. Her energy could be released even without blood. Just by dying forever.

The universe was doomed.

Dawn was doomed.

Seo was dead, the IPSA missile would never strike in time, and the Daleks would use the power to rule every single dimension and every single universe, across all of time and space and the infinity of creation, and there was nothing Dawn could do about it! Nothing…!

The Special Weapons Dalek halted the moment he hit the disk. Froze, as if completely immobilized.

"WHY HAVE YOU STOPPED?" demanded the Dalek in charge. "EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

The Special Weapons Dalek tried to move forwards, but the effort clearly was doing nothing for him. "I CANNOT MOVE. I…" The Special Weapons Dalek twitched. "SENSORS DETECT MASSIVE… ENERGY… DECREA…"

Then the eyestalk drooped. And the light in its eyes went dead.

"ALERT!" shouted one of the Daleks. "ALERT! ANOMALOUS READING EMITTED FROM DISK!"

"IPSA MISSILE COLLISION IN FIVE RELLS!" shouted another.

The lead Dalek began jumping and jolting in irritation. "THE DIMENSIONAL GATEWAY MUST BE CLAIMED!" he shrieked. "THE DALEKS MUST REIGN ACROSS…!"

The flash and crash and bang swept across Dawn's eyes, as the bomb struck.

Except…

Dawn peeled open her eyes, again.

It… had struck, right? She'd felt it striking the ship. She'd felt the air beginning to ignite and burn away. She'd felt…

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" shouted the lead Dalek, clearly just as baffled as Dawn was. "REPORT! REPORT!"

A low laugh echoed from down by Dawn's feet. A low laugh… coming from…

Seo picked herself up, off the ground. "Oh, now that feels _good_ ," she said, stretching as if getting up after a long nap. "Mmm, mmm, mmm! Power-sucking a high-grade explosion. Brilliant! Never get enough of that." Her eyes fell on the Daleks. "Oh. And you must be the boys who let me out."

The Daleks, clearly floored that they hadn't actually killed her, began to shout, "EXTERMINATE!"

The beams flashed through her, as Seo spread open her arms, and let them strike, every single beam illuminating her skeleton for a single second, but not felling her. She laughed, as they ran through her.

"Keep it coming!" Seo shouted. "All that energy? Massive head-rush. No, actually, on second thought…" She reached out and caught one of the beams, frozen in midair, in her hands. Then yanked on it, hard, until the Daleks around Seo and Dawn began to scream, and harsh light zipped from their metal husks. Swirling towards Seo. "Just like that! Come on! You know you want to!"

"Seo… what…?" Dawn stuttered, as the lights on the space ship began to flicker, the systems began to power down.

"Do you know what the difference is between a Key and a Dimensional Node?" Seo asked. She grinned. Gesturing around her. "Energy. Dimensional Nodes have to suck up energy from everything around them. The whole dimension and the whole universe. But us? We've got our own energy. Don't _have to_ suck anything from anyone." She laughed. "But it sure feels good doing it, anyways!"

Oh, God.

That was what she was doing.

Draining energy from the Daleks, from the ship, from everything and everyone around her, even draining energy from the IPSA prisoners, the humans screaming out in agony as Seo laughed with delighted glee. Draining their life. Extinguishing both Dalek and human alike.

And loving it.

Dawn shuddered. She had a horrible feeling… that whomever had survived that Dalek blast wasn't Seo.

Not at all.

The Daleks drooped. The ship fell silent. Not even a sound from the IPSA prisoners. No one and nothing survived… except for Dawn, still restrained. And Seo, her eyes crazed, the last tendrils of energy still zipping around her.

"Locked up for over a century!" Seo breathed. "And finally — _finally_ — she's gone. Forever. And I'm free." She turned, a huge grin on her face, exactly that Glory-insane look in her eyes that Dawn remembered from the real thing. "Looks like it's just you and me, now. Key."


	2. Glorious, Chapter 1

**Glorious**

It was like Dawn was 14 all over again.

That same fear gripping Dawn's heart. That same horrible feeling of helplessness. As Seo — no, not Seo, not anymore — Glory-Seo, a deranged smile on her face, finished tying Dawn up in her ship, and proceeded to hop and skip and jump around the console, zooming them towards some unknown point in time and space.

"...should be glad the bitch is dead," Glory-Seo was explaining to Dawn. She yanked a lever, and the ship shook. "I mean, really. That wussy little wimp? That spineless coward?" She made a face. "Makes me want to retch."

Dawn swallowed hard. "She… can't be dead," she insisted. Wishing it didn't sound so much like a squeak. "She… she has to be…"

Glory-Seo looked up at Dawn. Then beamed. "Of course she is!" she laughed. "Gone forever! She sacrificed herself to save the universe, and instead, wound up almost dooming it for good! Just the kind of stupid, pointless, screw-up thing she always did. Throwing her life away for something that _doesn't matter_." Glory-Seo strolled over to Dawn. Eyes glinting. "But she wasn't real, you know. That whole 'Seo' personality was just a front. A disguise. For _me_. The real thing!"

"She still managed to lock you up for a hundred years," Dawn retorted.

Glory-Seo didn't seem bothered by this. Just stood in front of Dawn. Appraising her. Then gave a small chuckle. "Not real. Because 'Seo' was a construct of a bunch of Monks trying to hide a mystical Key." She grabbed Dawn's head, wrenching it up to stare into her own manic eyes. "A Key… just like _you_! I mean, think of the possibilities!"

Dawn was.

They were pretty terrifying.

"You and me together," said Glory-Seo, "we don't have to adhere to deadlines or anything. We can do anything we want. At any time. Any place." She leaned down, staring right into Dawn's eyes. "I'm gonna rule worlds. Galaxies. Entire dimensions and entire universes! I'm gonna kill everyone and anyone that opposes me. And probably most of everyone and anyone that doesn't." Her voice lowered. "And I won't stop, Dawn. I can't stop!"

Dawn gaped at her.

Yep.

Anything of the old-her was long, long gone.

"See? That's why I have to find the Key," Glory-Seo explained. "Trust me. Moment I get the Key…"

"Don't," Dawn pleaded. "Please. Don't! Just let me go."

The manic look on Glory-Seo's face faltered, as she stepped back. A hint of something else settling it. "You're… afraid of me."

Well, that was a duh-moment.

"I know you're Glory, now," said Dawn. "But… you used to be Seo. Please, if you've got anything left of her… just let me go."

"You're afraid of me," said Glory-Seo, "because I'm Glory."

Once again.

Duh.

"Well… well… fine!" shouted Glory-Seo, spinning around and launching herself at the central console. "I don't care if you're afraid of me. Or if you don't love me. Hell goddesses don't feel love, anyways. Don't feel guilt. Or sadness. Or upsetness. So I don't really care about anything you say!" She flipped a few levers, stubbornly.

Dawn stared at her. "Oh, my God," she breathed. "You're _sulking_!"

"I am _not_ sulking!" Glory-Seo snapped. "I don't care about you. You're like an insect, compared to the might and splendor of…"

"Do you still love me?" Dawn asked.

Was there something left of the old Seo in there, after all? Beneath the multi-universal conquest plans and the killing people all the craziness…

Was there still some Seo, deep down inside, struggling to get out?

"Of course I don't love you," said Glory-Seo, huffing. "Hell goddesses don't have feelings. Whatever happens, whatever I do, I don't care."

"You don't want to kill me, though," Dawn said, in a quiet voice. "Or you'd have done it by now."

Glory-Seo rolled her eyes. "Well, there are a lot of other things to kill out there, first!" she said. Hands on her hips. "I mean, really! You think you're actually important enough to kill? Just because you're the Key? Well… I'm done with Keys! Done with all of that. I can conquer anything anywhere without the Key." She stubbornly punched at buttons on the console. "And I _don't_ care if you don't love me. Because you're like… a… a… an amoeba compared to me!"

Dawn wasn't sure what to say to this.

Didn't know who or what from Seo's psyche had survived that Dalek beam, just that… it was definitely not Seo… and it seemed a lot more upset about Dawn's not loving it than it wanted to let on.

"But I _do_ love you," said Dawn.

"Don't care!" Glory-Seo insisted.

"I love you, Seo — the _real_ you — because you're super smart," Dawn continued, "and you're also one of the most kind and caring and compassionate people out there. And I know you're still in there, somewhere, Seo! Locked away, unable to get out." She was thinking fast, now. Remembering what Buffy had told her. "So… this is all my fault. Everything that happened with the Daleks was all my fault. You can't blame yourself for—"

"You really don't get it, do you?" Glory-Seo snapped, slamming her hands down on the console. "The old me is gone! Not coming back, not regenerating, just… gone! And that's good, because she was a _total_ bitch. A wimpy, amoral, disgusting bitch. I mean, the best thing she ever did was to kill herself, and she managed to muck even that one up." She gave a small, dark smile. "After all. By killing herself, she handed you over to me. Left both you and the universe at my mercy. Just like Ben did, all those years ago."

Dawn felt her fear subsiding, as her anger began to build. A rage flaring through her, fueled by a grief too strong for words. Seo had been brave, had been selfless, had sacrificed herself to save Dawn's life… and to just ridicule her and insult her after her death… was… just…!

"I don't care if you're immortal," Dawn hissed. She bunched her hands into fists. "I'm going to kill you for saying that about Seo."

For a few seconds, there was silence in the ship. Glory-Seo standing over the central console, her back to Dawn, a rigid coldness still flowing through her.

Then she grabbed at a lever, and yanked the ship into renewed life.

Oliver suddenly spinning and pulsing through the vortex with renewed fury. A feverish look on Glory-Seo's face, something unfathomably dark in her eyes.

"The end of the universe!" Glory-Seo declared. "Let's see if this ship can make it." She turned on Dawn. "Have you seen the end of humanity? What happens to you lot as time collapses in on itself?" Her grin widened. "You human beings all turn into _me_ , Dawn! A bunch of mad, homicidal maniacs. Ready to tear apart the cosmos."

And there was something terrifying about her, now.

Even more terrifying than before.

"You don't want to do this," Dawn pleaded with her. "I know you don't! You don't ever want to…!"

Glory-Seo was over beside Dawn in a second, grabbing her up by the throat. "Of course I _want_ to," Glory-Seo gritted through her teeth. "Why would I keep doing it if I didn't want to? I'm Glory-Seo. A creature of Hell. A killer. Death for all. And if I didn't want to be that, I'd stop, right?" She squeezed even harder, until Dawn felt her air choked out of her lungs. "But I don't stop. Can't stop. Even if that means killing you, no one will ever, _ever_ be able to stop—"

BANG!

Oliver spun sideways, skittering out of the vortex, central console sparking and churning with an unhealthy whine. Glory-Seo dropped Dawn to the ground, stumbling as she fell to the ground, coughing on the smoke and then launching herself at the central console.

Glory-Seo, in absolute horror, breathed: "No."

Dawn struggled to catch her breath.

"No!" shouted Glory-Seo. She yanked and flipped and switched, glancing out the window behind her, the whole time, her eyes narrowed. "Not you. Not now. Get away from me! Just get away!"

And that was when Dawn saw it, through the window. One of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.

Emerging from the vortex, zipping after them, chasing them down… was a blue 1960's police box. Light flashing on the top, as it pursued.


	3. Chapter 2

Glory-Seo shrieked, as she felt Oliver slowing. As full control of her time machine was taken out of her hands, and placed into the hands of someone else. Someone Dawn basically wanted to throw her arms around and hug for bailing her out of this.

"Think you can ram me?" Glory-Seo snarled at the police box shape through the window. She jerked down a lever. "Guess again!"

They vaulted backwards, smashing against the side of the TARDIS, Oliver's console going up in flames and craziness, a dense smoke forming around them. Oliver jolted randomly in time and space, the vibrations of the impact rippling across the outer hull in a wave of colors that Dawn had never seen.

Then Oliver went out of Seo's control, again, and slammed into materialization, as Seo frantically tried to stop it.

The moment Oliver landed, his power went dead. Everything in the ship ceasing to function, all at once.

Glory-Seo grabbed up Dawn from the chair, throwing her across a shoulder, as she darted out the doors. Emerged into a stone castle, to a very astonished-looking king and queen, sitting on their thrones.

The guards all pointed guns at Glory-Seo and Dawn.

Glory-Seo's eyes flashed. As she raised up a hand, and… and…

It was happening again. Just like it had, before. Dawn could see it, could see the people around her getting their lives sucked out of them, their bodies turning to husks, keeling over, their screams echoing through the entire chamber.

"You… killed them all," Dawn said. Struggled to break free. "You killed them!"

Glory-Seo just shrugged, as she began to run, again. "I told you. Glorious little me. Can't be stopped." She darted into the next room. "It's started, Dawn. I've started. No way to stop this, now."

"You sure about that?" came a very familiar voice to their right.

Glory-Seo turned. Froze, as she came face-to-face with the green-eyed, bow tie wearing man she knew far, far too well. She backed away, yanking Dawn from her shoulder and clutching her to her chest.

"Get away from me," Glory-Seo growled.

The Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver. "Funny thing," he mused. "I've just finished dealing with a rather messy affair concerning 39th century Daleks, the Initiative, brain-swapping machines, and a time-snatched Buffy Summers. Which got me thinking… why would the Daleks be that keen and that tricky about moving a brain into a computer? What made them that desperate? What got that whole 39th century ball-of-events rolling?" He turned his sonic screwdriver at her. "It wasn't hard to guess."

"I'm warning you," Glory-Seo said. "Get away from me!"

"And I'm warning you," said the Doctor, his eyes blazing, as he stepped forwards, sonic pointed forwards. "Give her back — now. Or else."

Glory-Seo's grip tightened around Dawn, until Dawn could barely breathe.

"She's _mine_!" shouted Glory-Seo, clutching at Dawn, possessively. "You can't take her away! I won't let you!"

"I know your mind's been delta switched with a Dalek computer," the Doctor said, "but I also found records showing you later absorbed that computer. That means Seo's still somewhere in your head." The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "So let Dawn go," he demanded. "And give Seo back. Or I'll—"

"The bitch is _dead_!" shouted Glory-Seo. "How many times do I have to say this? The Daleks got it wrong! Seo sacrificed herself before the transfer went through. She's dead, and that means there's no 'her' left to come back!"

The Doctor visibly started at this. "She's…? Seo's actually…?"

"She died saving my life," Dawn whispered. Trying to stop her voice from wavering. "I watched it happen." The hints of tears formed in her eyes, and Dawn didn't have the strength to bat them away. "Seo died… a hero. You'd have been proud of her."

For a few moments, something unfathomably dark crept across the Doctor's face. His sonic lowering. "They did it again," he repeated, and there was such venom and hatred in his voice, it echoed long after the words had faded away. "The Daleks. Every single time… they make me lose so many…"

"A hero?!" snapped Glory-Seo. "Seo?! As if! She came into this world a screw-up, and she went out of it a screw-up. Just like she's always been. Face it. Next to Glorious me, the 'Seo' you knew was a loser. A miserable wretch who threw herself in front of a Dalek extermination beam just because she had a suicidal moment, and now she's—"

"Sorry, a Dalek extermination beam?" the Doctor cried. His whole body overcome with sudden shock. "No, wait, wait, wait!" He pointed at Glory-Seo, advancing towards her. "You're telling me that you were struck, point-blank, by a Dalek beam. And nothing happened."

"No, something happened," sighed Glory-Seo. "The bitch died, and I took over."

"No, I mean _that body_ ," the Doctor insisted, pointing. "It didn't die. Didn't regenerate. Just dropped to the floor. Then… stood up. Completely unharmed." The Doctor paused, sonic hanging limply in his hand, as his entire face crumpled into sadness. "Oh, Seo, Seo, Seo. What have you done to yourself?"

Glory-Seo arched an eyebrow at him. "I told you, she's…"

"She's dead and you're alive, walking around in her body," the Doctor cut in, advancing again. "I heard. And you're sticking to that story?"

"Course. Why not?"

The Doctor stopped, just in front of her. Eyes dark. "Because it's not possible, Seo."

Glory-Seo froze.

Then gave a shaky laugh.

"I'm immortal," Glory-Seo said. "A hell goddess. Dalek beams can't hope to…"

"That body isn't, though," the Doctor pointed out. His voice barely above a whisper. "It's not possible, Seo, and you know it."

Glory-Seo faltered.

And the Doctor took advantage of her moment of distraction to twist her around and unbalance her, letting her crash sideways to the ground and snatching Dawn out of her grasp. Shoving Dawn behind him, defensively, sonic raised in Glory-Seo's face.

Glory-Seo jumped back to her feet. Her expression desperate, as she realized that Dawn had been taken from her.

Then, with a roar, she leapt at the Doctor, punching and kicking and scratching. The Doctor rolling and dodging and darting to try to avoid most of her blows. Dawn, meanwhile, scrambled with her bonds, managing to throw off the last of them and grab hold of the Doctor's dropped sonic screwdriver, shooting it at Glory-Seo.

She shrieked, and flinched back, hands on her head.

The Doctor grabbed up Dawn by the hand, and the two of them took advantage of the momentary distraction so they could run.

But Glory-Seo was hot on their tails, pursuing them through the castle.

Dawn tried the sonic, again, but this time there was no effect. The Doctor babbled some techno-explanation that Dawn couldn't follow and didn't care about, as they burst into a room and found themselves surrounded by armed guards.

The Doctor and Dawn both halted. Held up their hands in surrender.

Then Glory-Seo showed up, just behind them.

Every gun in the room turned on her. And her eyes gave an insane gleam, her lips in a deranged smile, her very posture daring the guards to shoot. Her mere presence making the guards tremble in place, although they didn't quite understand why.

The Doctor could see where this was headed. Raised up his hand, shouted, "No, don't—!"

But he was too late.

The terrified men had all opened fired on her, at once. But as a wave of temporal distortion whipped out from Glory-Seo, the guns all rusted and decayed in the guards' hands. The chink-chink-chink sound of bullets dropping to the floor rang through the room, as Glory-Seo sucked the energy, velocity, and momentum from the many bullets whizzing towards her.

"Not bad for an appetizer," said Glory-Seo. Her expression turning vicious. "Time for the main course."

The guards all screamed, dropping to their knees, energy suddenly sucked out of them and flowing straight into Glory-Seo. Who laughed, arms outstretched, accepting it all. "Oh, massive head-rush!" she said. Tilted back her head, as she absorbed the energy. "You have _got_ to try this, Dawn. It's like…!"

The Doctor barreled into Glory-Seo, so she lost her focused attack. She tossed him off of her, slamming him against the ground so that he skittered into Dawn, ten feet away.

"Get out of here!" Glory-Seo shouted at them. "Or I'll kill you both!"

"Seo, listen to me," the Doctor urged her, struggling up to his feet, again. "I can…"

"I said I'm going to kill you!" Glory-Seo practically screamed. She advanced on the Doctor and Dawn, her eyes blazing. "I'm going to tear you limb from limb. Murder you in the most horrible way possible!"

"But you don't _want_ to," said the Doctor. "Do you? What you're saying, now… it's not a threat. It's a warning. You're afraid for us. You want us to run."

The guards were beginning to stir, and Seo spun on them, letting loose a stream of magical energy, making the ceiling collapse on top of all of them.

"No!" the Doctor shouted.

Futilely.

The ceiling crashed down, every guard dead at once.

"I'm a hell goddess," Glory-Seo hissed. "I have to murder and slaughter and destroy. It's in the job description." She spun around to face the Doctor and Dawn, again. "So stop trying to make the person I murder be _you_!"

"Seo…"

"Seo is _gone_!" Glory-Seo screamed. "And good riddance. You ask me, she _deserves_ to be dead. She was a spineless, worthless coward, just like Ben was, willing to kneel down and swear to kill her first real friend just because—"

"And are _you_ the one who thinks she deserves to be dead?" asked the Doctor. "Or is that just what Twilight tried to convince you?"

Glory-Seo faltered.

"Did Twilight know that you could flip into this mode?" the Doctor continued. "Was this one of the things he kept dredging up, inside your mind, to play on your guilt and convince you to kill yourself?" His voice lowered. "Did he tell you that you could stop it if you were a good enough person inside?"

"Stay away from me," Glory-Seo warned. Backing away from the Doctor and Dawn. "Both of you. Get away from me!"

"It's all lies, Seo," the Doctor insisted. "Everything Twilight told you was a lie! You're not worthless. You're not weak. You're not spineless. You're not just sitting back and letting this—!"

But Seo had already turned.

And fled.


	4. Chapter 3

"Ben!" shouted the Doctor, as he tugged Dawn along with him, the two of them racing through the castle, trying to find Seo. "She mentioned… Ben! That'd be Ben Wilkinson, I assume. Rather nice bloke. Well, had the down-side of sometimes morphing into Glory, but… way Seo spoke of him… you'd think he was Davros."

Oh. Damn. That's right. The Doctor hadn't been around for the end of that whole thing.

"Ben tried to kill me," Dawn said.

They darted through a room with a balcony, the Doctor glancing back over his shoulder at her. "What, really?"

"Yeah, really," said Dawn. She gritted her teeth. "Threatened to cut me open until there wasn't enough blood left in my body to create a portal. But instead, he just surrendered me to Glory, because she promised to make him immortal." Dawn felt herself shaking, her jaw set. "And… Glory-Seo had the gall to compare normal Seo to that miserable, spineless—"

The Doctor stopped, and Dawn almost ran into him. He was staring at her, now. Analyzing her, carefully. "You were fourteen," he said. "It's ten years later. And even just hearing his name still makes you this angry."

"He tried to kill me!" Dawn shouted. "I trusted him, and he stabbed me in the back! How can you just forget something like—?!"

"Exactly," muttered the Doctor. "How can you forget it?"

Dawn stopped. Hesitated. "What…?"

"That happened to you when you were fourteen," said the Doctor. "Imagine… exactly the same thing happened to you… when you were less than a year old. Your brain still developing. Your childhood fears and subconscious traumas all still being formed deep down within your psyche."

Dawn blinked. "Huh?"

The Doctor grabbed Dawn up by the shoulders. "Dawn, Seo's body is mortal. It can die. It _should_ have died when struck by a Dalek beam." He shook her. "The only way it didn't… is if Seo was never actually struck by that beam at all."

"But… she was!" said Dawn. "I saw it! She was struck, point-blank! She died, and the Glory part of her—"

"Took over?" the Doctor said. "Like Ben and Glory — two different people sharing the same body? And…" He examined her, curiously. "…you seem to be able to remember Ben and Glory are related, now, even though you couldn't during that year when you battled against Glory. Interesting."

"It's… not… but Seo wasn't Ben!" Dawn insisted. "Seo — real Seo — was kind, and sweet, and wonderful, and…"

"Real Seo is still just as alive as she was before," the Doctor cut in. He pointed in front of them, towards the distant figure they were pursuing. "Dawn, that's not Glory. It's Seo. The real Seo. The _same_ Seo. Problem is… she's convinced herself that her situation is just like Ben and Glory. And it's not."

Dawn wasn't sure what to say to this. "It's… not?"

The sound of footsteps, just in front of them, and the Doctor grabbed Dawn's hand, and began to race forwards, through the castle. Chasing after the sound.

"There _isn't_ 'a Seo' and 'a Glory-Seo'," the Doctor told her, as they ran. "But _she_ thinks there _is_. That's what you're seeing. She doesn't know what's happening — she's terrified, confused, struggling to justify something she doesn't understand. So her childhood trauma kicks in. And convinces her that she's living through her worst fear."

Dawn's head spun.

"There's… there's only one Seo?" Dawn asked. "This killing-everyone crazy person… isn't Glory? It's…?" She didn't want to believe it. Couldn't believe it. "But Seo told me! She said the Monks gave her something, deep down inside. That was exactly like Glory. Except they made that something still kinda be… _her_."

The Doctor absorbed this. "That's what she thinks? Interesting."

Turned a corner, sharply, dragging Dawn behind him. Then stopped short. As he looked, horrified, at the room he and Dawn had just entered.

"Oh, no," the Doctor muttered.

Dawn stepped past him. And stared. "But… that's… the balcony room!" she cried. Pointing off to the area behind them. "From back there! How could it be both here and…?"

"Recursion," the Doctor said. Took out his sonic, scanned it along the walls, checked the reading. "A recursive environment created using block transfer computation. A space-time trap." He spun around, to address the balcony. "Very clever."

Dawn turned, too. Spotting a small blond figure, on the balcony. Her brown eyes fixed on them. Her stare intense and biting.

"Course, this isn't the first recursive time-space trap I've been caught in," the Doctor called to Seo. He grinned. "Was caught in one back in my fifth incarnation, when—"

"Castrovalva," Seo said, her voice emotionless. "I know."

The Doctor hesitated. "How…?"

"He liked to brag, while he was torturing me," said Seo. "Especially about all the ways he hurt you. Nearly killed you." She gave a proud little half-smile. "And now he's dead. And _I'm_ the one hurting you, instead. Fancy that."

"Seo, listen to me," said the Doctor, his expression now deadly serious. "You're not the Master."

"No," Seo mused. Hands resting on the railing of the balcony. "I'm just what he always wished he was. Immortal. Undefeatable. An all-powerful, murdering, evil—"

"You don't understand what's happening to you," the Doctor cut in. "You're scared, Seo. Struggling to make sense of something you should never have had to deal with. I understand that!" He stepped forwards. "So let me help you."

Seo slammed a hand down on the railing, the stone cracking and crumbling beneath her fist. "The way you helped me by bringing me here?" she shouted. "Thwarting my plans, breaking my ship, stealing my aunt, and then showing up to take me down in person?" Her body shook with rage. "No. I'm Glory-Seo. I don't want or need any more of your 'help'."

"You've got it wrong!" the Doctor cut in. "You're not—!"

But Seo turned, and… faster than either of them could register… had disappeared from sight.

Dawn felt herself shaking.

"That was… the real Seo?" she squeaked. Cleared her throat. "That was actually…?"

The Doctor sighed. "She's convinced herself she's evil," he said. He gestured at the area around them. "Hence… this. Borrowing a trap from my an enemy of mine. And certain it's exactly the same situation."

"Isn't it?" asked Dawn.

The Doctor turned to her. "The Master stuck me in a recursive trap because he wanted to kill me," he said. "Seo trapped us here to keep us out of her way, so we'd be safe. Because she's terrified she'll kill us."

The Doctor flicked his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, and began buzzing it at the walls, frantically.

"Right," the Doctor said. "Better get out of here, find Seo, and stop her before she does something she can't take back." He hesitated. Then corrected himself with, "Before she does _any_ _more_ somethings she can't take back."

Dawn hung back. Her mind racing through the last hour or two of her life. Deborah Raykins… the IPSA fleet… the Daleks and Seo and… then…

This.

"You really think there's a way we can snap her out of this?" said Dawn.

"Always a way out of anything, if you look hard enough!" the Doctor assured her, adjusting the sonic. "After all. She fought off Twilight. And that actually _was_ a separate entity trying to seize control of her body and mind."

As opposed to this. Which was just… Seo _thinking_ she'd turned into Glory. Making up some separate personality in her mind, to justify her super-strength.

Oh, God.

Dawn had known Seo was a bit guilt-ridden and crazy, but she'd never thought Seo was full-out schizophrenic or anything!

"What do you think she's doing out there, now?" asked Dawn.

"No idea," said the Doctor, hopping around and buzzing his sonic along a different section of the walls. "Something desperate, probably. And highly destructive. Doubt she locked the two of us in here so she could stumble back to her ship and wallow in self-pity."

"Yeah, well, after you broke her ship," Dawn muttered, "more likely she'd wallow in _yours_."

The Doctor froze. Then spun on Dawn, eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Dawn dismissed. "She just might be a little mad at you for breaking her—"

"No! No, you said…!" The Doctor cried, darting over and grabbing Dawn up by the shoulders. He stopped, and his entire face fell into sudden, horrified panic. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!"

"What?" said Dawn.

"Most powerful ship in the universe, most dangerous two girls in the universe, most dangerous situation in the universe," the Doctor rambled, hand pushing back his floppy hair, "and I've just put them all together."

He turned on his heel, attacking the wall of the recursive time trap with a sudden frenzy that he hadn't had, before.

Dawn was a little taken aback. "But Seo can't get into the TARDIS, right?" she said. "I mean, my TARDIS key's back on Earth, with Ria, and Seo doesn't have one of her own. So…"

"Oh, trust me," muttered the Doctor. "Seo doesn't need a key to open the TARDIS. No matter what she tricked Twilight into believing."

The walls around them shimmered.

Then seemed to ripple, shake, and stagger, the whole thing almost collapsing around them. The Doctor grabbed Dawn's hand.

"Run!" he shouted, as they sprinted forwards.


	5. Chapter 4

The Doctor and Dawn raced down the halls and corridors. Dawn looking on, in horror, at the number of deaths that Seo had caused since they'd been locked up. The many layers of guards and soldiers and people, lying on the ground, drained husks.

The Doctor looked down at them. Shaking his head, utter pain on his face. "This shouldn't have happened," he muttered. "This should never have happened!"

"And if she gets her hands on the TARDIS, it'll happen across all of time and space, right?" said Dawn, struggling to keep up with him. "Which is something we definitely need to avoid."

"Oh, worse than that!" the Doctor said, as they darted past the throne room. "No, it's not her piloting the TARDIS that worries me. Old Girl wouldn't react well to Seo, anyways. It's what Seo will find moment she steps inside — _that's_ the scary bit."

"Why?" asked Dawn. "What's inside?"

"And it's my fault!" the Doctor continued, turning a corner, revealing a long corridor with the TARDIS nestled at the far end. "My own stupid fault. She's already had to deal with the heartache of losing Buffy, back in 2000, before Seo ever technically arrived on Earth at all. She's seen the changed timeline, remembered the old one, and had to adapt! Imagine what she'll think when she sees—"

"Oh, my God!" Dawn cried. Breath catching in her throat. "It's the 11th you! That means you don't know!"

The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder, as he reached the TARDIS doors. "Don't know what?"

"Doctor," said Dawn, as she followed him at a half-run into the TARDIS, "Buffy…"

Dawn stopped. Mid-sentence.

Staring at the image on the view-screen of the TARDIS. The image Seo was standing just in front of, staring at, her expression completely blank.

It was a file.

Declaring the Doctor's death.

Dawn stumbled back. Oh, God! Oh, God, no! This was _her_ fault! She knew the Powers that Be would kill the Doctor if he ever found out Buffy was alive, and Dawn had been stupid about it and had tried to tell him!

The Doctor, however, didn't seem too terribly concerned with whatever Dawn had been about to say. As he noticed the expression on Seo's face. The anger searing through her eyes.

"You're going to die," Seo said, her voice very low, very dark.

The Doctor raced over to her. "It's a fixed point in time, Seo," he said. "You can't—!"

Seo spun around, the moment he approached, shoved her hands onto his chest and blasted him with a bolt of pure energy that seared across his entire body. Making him cry out as he staggered, then toppled to the floor.

Dawn's heart slammed in her chest. "You… you killed him."

"I'm saving him," Seo corrected. Looked down at her own hands. "But it wasn't enough. I need more, Dawn. Millions and billions of years more! I need _energy_ , Dawn. Life energy. Enough energy to make him immortal. I…" She stopped. Her eyes widening. "The planet. I can drain the entire planet!"

Began to race out the door, but Dawn rushed at her, tackling her to the floor.

"You can't do this!" Dawn shouted. "I won't let you!"

"It's my right!" Seo shouted back, throwing Dawn off of her. "I'm an evil hell goddess! With powers beyond belief. I can't stop, Dawn. I'm never going to stop! And if I want to make my father live forever, then that's what I'm going to do! Even if I have to do something really evil like drain a whole planet in order to—"

"You're _not_ a hell goddess!" Dawn screamed.

Seo froze, in the doorway of the TARDIS. Her whole body shaking. "What?" she whispered.

"There isn't any Glory in you, Seo," Dawn said, climbing to her feet and walking over to her. She turned Seo around to face her. "You were just scared there was, so you made it up. Whatever you're doing, now, it's not coming from Glory. Just… you. Yourself. That same Seo who threw herself in front of a Dalek beam to save my life."

Seo's eyes widened. Her body shaking, even more. "No," she breathed. "No, I can't… I have to be…" She clenched her jaw. "I _am_ an evil hell goddess! I don't feel guilt or loss or pain! I—"

"But you still feel love!" Dawn said. Put her hands on Seo's arms. "It's why you're doing everything to save your father. Doing everything to make sure the Doctor doesn't snatch me away from you. Because you _love_ us." She leaned in closer to Seo. "And hell goddesses don't feel love."

Horror sprung onto Seo's face. Her skin turning white. "I'm… not…?"

"There's no Glory in you," Dawn assured her. "This is all just a childhood fear. If you really — _really —_ want to stop killing people, you can stop." Looked deep into Seo's eyes. "I believe in you."

Seo said nothing for a few long moments.

Then screamed.

Tore past Dawn, hurtling herself deeper into the TARDIS control room. Back plastered against the far wall. "I… I did it all, myself," she whispered. Looked down at herself, as the TARDIS lights began to flicker, the energy levels dimming. "I'm doing it all myself. Not Glory. Me. I can stop."

From the ground, the Doctor gave a groan. Rolled over, peeling himself up. "Oh, that was nasty! Never want to go through something like that a second time, not for…"

Then he noticed Seo, on the far side of the TARDIS.

And the many warnings and beeps and buzzes and flashes and gongs that the TARDIS was frantically emitting, as the power to the ship fluctuated wildly around Seo.

"I'm mad," said Seo, her voice wavering in sheer panic. "Just a madwoman who's purposely tearing the universe apart. Because I want to."

"What?" cried the Doctor. "No, Seo, you're not—!"

But she'd already turned around and fled the console room, racing deep into the depths of the TARDIS, her every breath frantic and gaspy.

"Seo, listen to me!" the Doctor shouted, trying to rush after her. "This isn't your fault! You can't—!"

He slammed into the now-concrete wall separating the console room from the rest of the ship. Staggered back, then yelled in utter frustration.

"No, no, no, no!" he shouted at his ship. "She's not a threat, Old Girl! She's just afraid!" He hammered at the concrete wall. "And if you don't get this thing down, there's no telling what she could do!"

The TARDIS didn't seem to respond to the Doctor at all.

Dawn wasn't sure what to say. What to do.

She'd thought… she was really getting through to Seo. She'd thought…

The Doctor turned on Dawn. His eyes furious. "You!" he cried. "What did you say? What did you tell her?"

"I… I just said what you told me," Dawn said. Feeling a lot more hesitant about it, now. "You know, that she's not really Glory. She's just conjured that personality up from her childhood fears, and…"

"You told her _what_?!" the Doctor shouted.

Okay.

Clearly… that _hadn't_ been what the Doctor had meant.

"Of course she's Glory, Dawn!" said the Doctor. He pointed at the doors of the TARDIS. "You think just anyone can break into the TARDIS without a key?"

Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but… hesitated.

"She sounds like Glory!" the Doctor said. "Makes great big speeches like Glory. Brain sucks people like Glory! Can hurl people through cement walls same way Glory can! That's what Seo is, Dawn — bit of me, bit of Buffy, bit of Glory."

"But… but… you said she didn't do the flipping thing like Ben and Glory did!" Dawn insisted. "You said it was just some childhood trauma convincing her—"

"That she's Ben!" said the Doctor. "But she isn't Ben. She doesn't flip between Glory and some other personality. I told you — Seo doesn't have a split personality. She's only acting a bit Glory, now, because she's _always_ a bit Glory. Even when she's normal."

Dawn stared at him. "Huh?" She shook her head. "No, but… but… but Seo told me she's been keeping Glory locked away inside her head, and…"

"She _is_ keeping something locked inside her head," the Doctor agreed. "But that something she locked away _isn't_ Glory."

Again with the huhs.

"I assumed this was all something to do with the Daleks' brain swapper," the Doctor muttered, to himself. "Some sort Dalek program they'd implanted into her head, which she couldn't get rid of." He grimaced. "But if Seo's had it since childhood — if she's flipped into this mode before — that means this was built-in by the Monks. When Seo was first created."

"Um…," said Dawn, "okay, then. Next time, could you explain in a more… explainy kind of way?"

The Doctor turned back to Dawn. "Seo, when she was young, found something in her mind," he said. "And didn't know what it was. Understood only that it was evil, ruthless, and wanted to kill everyone. And so Seo, fueled by childhood terrors, assumed the evil thing inside her head was Glory. Except… it's not Glory."

Dawn swallowed, hard. "Then… what is it?"


	6. Chapter 5

The first time it had happened, Seo had still been a child, living in the Axis. Had just broken into one of the Axis timelines — some little snippet of time edited out of the universe. And was trying to talk to people, make friends.

Seo couldn't remember what set it off, that first time.

But she'd never forget the terror of going through it. Never forget how it felt to grow angrier and angrier, more and more determined to stop what was happening in this timeline in any way possible, and then…

Something inside of her changed. Like someone had flipped a light switch.

And Seo snapped someone's neck.

Then burst through the world like a firestorm, killing and tearing apart and ripping people to shreds, screaming the whole time. Screaming for help. Screaming for someone to stop her.

But she didn't stop.

Couldn't stop.

It felt like she was trapped inside her own body. Unable to control it. Unable to choose what it did and where it was going. She watched people dying, all around herself, and it didn't matter if they'd all come back to life (because this was the Axis, and everyone always came back to life) — Seo was killing them, murdering them, feeling them die beneath her own hands and she couldn't stop it. Nothing could stop it. It had started, and it didn't ever stop.

_Of course you could stop it if you wanted to,_ came an icy voice, deep down inside her mind. _But you don't actually want to. Not deep down inside._

Seo had heard this voice her whole life. Had always assumed it was her conscience.

_You're just a murderer, Seosyrae,_ said the voice. _A killer. A wussy, spineless little bitch who gets her kicks by hacking people to bits. You should really just commit suicide, thereby making the universe safe._

Dad had saved her, that first time.

Pulled her out of the alternate timeline, stuck her into the nothingness, again. Let her thrash uselessly against the nothingness, as she slowly but surely regained control of herself.

He told her this was another one of those changes that happened because she'd just hit puberty. Told her to remember what it had felt like to cause all those deaths and all that misery. Told her to remember how it had felt to be trapped in her own mind.

"Bad," Seo had told him. She'd shuddered. "Terrible."

"So don't let it happen, again," Dad told her. "Make sure you're always yourself. No matter what."

"How?" Seo had asked.

Dad had given her a hug. "Sorry," he said. "Don't know. 'Fraid that's one of those things… you'll have to work out on your own."

* * *

The TARDIS shuddered, again.

And the cement wall barring Dawn and the Doctor from the rest of the TARDIS interior suddenly disappeared. The Doctor raced forwards, fast as he could manage.

Dawn stumbling along behind.

"I don't get it," said Dawn. "What's inside of Seo? What's she been locking out? And if it's not a multiple personality thing, then what…?"

The Doctor stopped in his tracks. Spun around to face Dawn, again.

"What's the difference," the Doctor asked her, "between a weapon and a soldier?"

Dawn blinked. "I… guess… weapons don't choose," she offered. "Weapons just do what people program them to, or make them do. They don't have free will or anything."

The Doctor nodded.

"But what does this have to do with…?" Dawn started.

"Because Seo wasn't built as a soldier," said the Doctor. "She was built as a _weapon_ , Dawn. To kill Glory. And prevent the end of the universe. She was just an infant when it happened, though, so her biology didn't kick in like it was supposed to. But she's not an infant anymore."

A weapon.

With no free will.

The Doctor stepped up a little closer to Dawn, staring deep into her eyes. "Think about what just happened," he told her. "With you two and the Daleks. Think about the scenario those Monks were preparing for. And remember that… if you're a group of magic Monks trying to kill an unstoppable hell goddess… the one thing you never want… is for your weapon to get scared and make the choice to _stop_."

Dawn froze.

As she thought it all through.

The scenario the Monks had been aiming to prevent… Glory's kidnapping Seo and stringing her up on a platform, killing her over and over again so that her energies could open up a portal to destroy the multiverse. While Seo was tied down, helpless.

And so… when the Daleks had aimed to cause the end of creation by opening a dimensional gateway… when they'd shouted exterminate, and Seo knew it meant the death of everything… she'd torn through the restraints… had raced into the middle of that extermination beam…

Oh.

Oh, God.

Dawn could see it, suddenly. What the Monks _wanted_ to have happen, when Glory opened that portal. What those Monks would have done — to both her and Seo — if they'd had enough time.

Glory's servants would come. Use the knife to cut at Seo. And when they cut her, they'd appear to be succeeding, as her body mimicked real blood.

Except that it wasn't real blood, and they weren't really cutting her. No more so than the Dalek beam had actually been killing her, when it had struck. No, Glory's servants would be cutting at shadows, while Seo buried her actual self deep into the multi-dimensional layers of the universe.

Then Seo would have broken free from Glory's servants. Torn apart the restraints. And killed every single person around her. Every single one of Glory's minions and servants, everyone who had ever worked to end the entire multiverse. Sucked out their energy and used it to close any cracks that might create that portal.

And Dawn knew that's what Seo was _supposed_ to have done.

Because it was exactly what had happened, when she'd faced down the Daleks.

"Seo kept saying… she couldn't stop," Dawn realized.

"And she _can't_ , Dawn," the Doctor agreed, his voice a little gentler, now that she understood. "The Monks implanted that deep, deep inside of her."

She couldn't stop.

Oh, no.

"It's what the Master tapped into, that Year on the Valiant," said the Doctor. "What Twilight was trying to exploit. Why everyone keeps trying to take over her mind or possess her. Seo has a weapon-mode. Something she's been locking away — stubbornly and bravely refusing to let out, no matter what. And when Seo flips into that... she becomes invincible, killing everything and everyone around her. Completely aware. And completely unable to stop."

"But… she doesn't always kill _everyone_ ," Dawn protested. "She locked the two of us up, remember? To try to keep us safe! She…"

"Seo's fighting back," the Doctor replied. "Fighting against this weapon-mode tooth-and-nail, knowing her. But there's an unstoppable killing machine inside of her, Dawn, and she can't shut that off. Any more than you'd be able to close an unstable portal with your just mind, through sheer force of will, the moment it opened. All the elements you need might be there — but your brain isn't wired up to access them."

Dawn understood that one.

She'd tried to will the portal closed back when she was 14. Just before Buffy had jumped. But it hadn't worked.

"The only way Seo can save the two of us," the Doctor said, "is by massacring anyone who _isn't_ us. Apparently, that's about as far as her control reaches. And I'm guessing even that is tenuous at best."

Dawn shuddered.

Thinking about Seo… seeing all of that… and being aware, the whole time, that _she_ was the one doing it.

"So that's why she convinced herself it was a multiple personality," Dawn breathed. "One that couldn't feel guilt or loss. Because she knew… otherwise… killing everyone and unable to stop herself, knowing it was _her_ doing it… she'd go insane."

"Yes," the Doctor said. "And you just convinced her… _she_ was the one doing it. And that she could stop if she wanted to."

Oh, God.

Dawn had totally screwed this whole thing up.

"But… but… the Monks had to have given her a way to stop!" said Dawn. "After all Glory's minions and servants were defeated. I mean, they wouldn't have wanted her to save the universe just so she could destroy it, again!"

"Except the Monks never finished, did they?" said the Doctor. "Didn't finish their work with you. And Seo's a lot more complicated to create than you were. Lot more loose ends they didn't tie up."

Oh, God.

What if there was no way to…?

"No, I _know_ she's gotten out of this mode, before!" Dawn insisted. "There has to be something we can do to get her to stop, Doctor. There _has_ to!"

The Doctor turned on his heels, then raced off down the corridors of his ship. "Course there has to!" he called back. "Just up to us to work out what that is, before we lose her forever!"


	7. Chapter 6

The second time it had happened, in Seo's childhood, was a shortly after Seo had discovered her own origins. She was still living in the Axis, still breaking into those severed timelines. But she knew where she came from. Knew what had happened to her parents. Knew who'd created her and why.

Knew what had happened with Ben and Glory.

So when her body began to act on its own, again, Seo suddenly realized what must be happening to her. With a horrible, gut-wrenching fear that paralyzed her own mind.

It was the Monks.

Their fault!

They'd been trying to plant only enough Glory into her to make her able to kill Glory, but… they'd given her too much! Glory must have grown inside of Seo, just like she had with Ben! And this was Glory taking over and coming out to the surface!

That must be what this was.

She was becoming Glory.

_Look at yourself, you bitch,_ that little voice deep down inside her mind had said. _In your own timeline, you proved yourself a worthless, murdering coward — like Ben. One who killed her own parents just to live a little longer. And now you've grown up, and you're still doing the same thing. Killing everyone. Ripping the universe to shreds. You feel proud of yourself?_

Seo had felt that horrible, acrid guilt rise up inside of her, again.

_Only one way to find redemption,_ the little voice urged her. _Just die._

Die.

_Kill yourself,_ the voice agreed. _End your own life! You'll stop Glory. Save the universe. Maybe that'll be enough to make your parents' ghosts feel slightly less disgusted by you and your selfishness._

But Seo had become far too terrified to think any response to this.

As her body struck down and murdered, and the guilt and pain and horror overwhelmed her senses. Made her unable to deal with what was going on.

She wanted to stop!

She wanted to live!

_You selfish, egomaniacal little bitch!_ the voice inside her accused. _Look at what you're doing! You really think someone like you deserves to live?! Be_ happy _?! KILL YOURSELF ALREADY!_

Seo could never satisfy her conscience.

But she knew it was right. She shouldn't want to survive or be happy, but she did. She didn't want to kill herself! And that made her even more guilt-ridden and terrified than before.

_Think of it as your sacrifice_ , the voice Seo assumed was her conscience reminded her. _What your parents would want you to do. Keep living, and you'll turn into Glory. Like Ben did. You'll—_

And that was when it struck Seo.

"I'm turning into Glory," Seo said, aloud. "I really am."

And it just made so much sense. Everything she was seeing, doing — it wasn't _her_ doing it! Just some other-self inside of her, squirming around and trying to take control.

Glory was trying to take control.

So Seo let her.

After all, Seo reasoned to herself, maybe her conscience was right — and she _was_ just like Ben. She wasn't a killer, she was just some wussy, spineless little idiot who made her parents sacrifice themselves for her, who refused to commit suicide to save the universe, and who was now letting Glory take her over.

Why fight it?

Seo could feel Glory washing across her — that power and determination. That strength. That fire.

A smile touched her lips. "Hell goddesses don't feel guilt," she said. Her guilt and horror fading away, un-petrifying her mind. "When I'm like this, I can do anything. And I don't care." Her eyes shone, as her brain began to work again. Finally thinking clearly! As she tried to figure out how to twist this murderous ability to her own advantage. "Because I am _glorious_."

_But it's wrong,_ the voice — Seo thought was her conscience — argued. It sounded a little scared. _Turning into this is wrong. You have to stop! You have to kill yourself!_

But Seo knew.

She was an evil hell goddess.

She didn't need a conscience, anymore.

So she shut that little voice up. Shoved it aside, inside her own mind. Caging it up, so that not even its terrified writhing and pleading could break through.

Her mind. Her rules.

And if she wanted to live… screw the guilt and the self-reprimands! She was going to live!

"I'm turning into Glory," she told herself. "What do I care about a conscience?"

And it never occurred to her until much, much later that… maybe… just maybe… if this really had been a situation like Ben and Glory… Seo shouldn't have been so aware of it all happening.

Or be able to remember and feel what it was like, after she was done.

* * *

"Can Seo die at all?" Dawn asked, as they raced through the TARDIS. "When she's in this… Weapon-Mode thing? I mean, the Daleks didn't kill her, and they're—"

"Of course she can die!" the Doctor replied. He paused a moment, sticking his finger in the air, as if checking something. Then raced in another direction. "She's still mortal. Catch her off-guard enough that she can't absorb the energy from whatever you chuck at her, and she'll die. Or — in Twilight's case — get her to want to kill _herself_ , and… same thing."

"But you said—"

"The only time she can't be killed by normal means," the Doctor explained, "is when she's being used, against her will, to open a portal. That one scenario the Monks were planning for. And even then…" He glanced back at Dawn. "…there's no telling how far the mental damage could go, leaving her in Weapon Mode for too long."

A crackle sizzled through the air.

And Dawn stumbled, in the corridors of the TARDIS. The whole world suddenly swimming around her, her body feeling suddenly sloshy and weird. She grabbed out for one of the walls, to steady herself.

Beside her, the Doctor did the same thing. Gritted his teeth.

"Oh, that's not good," the Doctor hissed.

He struggled forwards, now more purposely, as if he knew exactly where he was going. Dawn struggled to keep up, despite the swimminess inside of her.

"What…?" said Dawn.

They burst into a room with an elaborate sculpture in the middle, swirling lights at its base. And Seo, standing in the middle of it, floating in midair above the colors and swirling lights. Her visage looking demonic.

The Doctor staggered over to the control bank and flipped a lever.

The machine cut out, Seo dropping to the ground in a heap, and the swimminess inside of Dawn drained away, in an instant.

"Seo," said the Doctor. "You need help."

Seo didn't bother looking up. "I could torture and kill someone else," she said, her voice so quiet. "Drain off life energy from some other dimension. From beings who deserve it. Like the Powers that Be. Or the First! Give that energy to you and Aunt Dawn. Make you immortal. Make you gods."

Dawn's heart raced. "Seo, don't," she begged. "What I said about being Glory — I didn't—!"

"I'm going to kill you!" Seo shouted, across Dawn, her eyes staring at her aunt, dark and biting. "Don't you understand? I can't stop! I have to kill, and you're all that's here. So I'm going to kill you. Because I'm mad and I'm evil and… and…" A tear rolled down her cheek.

The Doctor moved forwards, slowly, trying to get to Seo. "And you don't want her to die," he said, in his softest, most soothing voice. "You don't want anyone to die."

Seo snapped her head around to the Doctor. "I _do_ want it," she said. "Deep down inside… it's me, flipping myself into this. Always has been me. I was stupid, I thought it was Glory, but… it's just my own madness. Making me want to kill everyone."

"It's not you," the Doctor said. "Seo, you know it's not you controlling this. Your body is acting on its own, and you can't stop it."

Seo was quiet for a moment.

"I _did_ once," she whispered. "I stopped myself from killing you and Mom."

The Doctor froze in place.

"It was… when I was still living in the Axis," said Seo. "Wandering around in those alternate timelines. I was killing everyone. Massacring them." Her jaw trembled. Eyes terrified. "Blood all over my hands. I… I was so scared. I didn't…" She looked up at the Doctor. "Then you and Mom came. And I… stopped myself. I don't even know how." Her hands shook. Her voice filled with bitter sorrow. "If I could stop myself, then, I must be able to stop myself always. I just don't _want_ it enough!"

Power crackled around them, beginning to surge back through the machine, rippling energies across Seo's skin, as she floated up into the air. Her face looking almost demonic in the low light.

The Doctor staggered back, as if struck.

"Because I'm evil inside!" Seo declared. "An evil, sadistic maniac, who can't—"

The Doctor slammed down the lever, again, and cut the power to the machine. "Seo," he said. "Stop this. You're killing yourself."

Seo toppled through the air, slamming onto the ground.

"The power you're putting through this machine," the Doctor continued, "it'll burn you out long before you manage to make either Dawn or myself immortal. Probably before you drain anything from any dimension at all."

Seo gave a bitter laugh. "That was the point."

Dawn stopped breathing.

"Have to stop myself, somehow," said Seo, peeling herself up from the floor. She was bent over, gasping for breath, her face a little too pale. "If the real-me is evil, inside… this is the only way."

The Doctor rushed over to her. Bent down, in front of her, hands on her shoulders. Looking into her eyes. "It's not the only way," he said. Gave her a gentle smile. "Where there's life, there's hope."

The Doctor was slammed against the ground hard enough that he dented the floor, as Seo skittered away, plastering herself against the far wall. Her entire body shaking.

"I told you to keep away from me," Seo said. She was breathing hard. Her eyes frantic. "I'm going to kill you."

"But you said you'd stopped yourself, before," the Doctor pointed out. He managed to stagger back to his feet. Trying to brush off the injuries as if they meant nothing, because… it was clear to everyone there… that every new injury Seo gave him was killing her on some deep level.

"I never lost this much control, before," Seo whispered.

She sounded terrified.

The Doctor walked towards her. His stance unthreatening. His hands extended outwards, in invitation.

"Then kill me," he said.

Seo's eyes widened in utter terror, as her body sprang at the Doctor. As she tackled him to the ground, bashing at his head, punching at his chest, savagely beating him to death…

And screaming at herself to stop.

Dawn could see Seo struggling. Desperately trying to stop every punch she gave. Using all her strength to try to stop the kicks she delivered. She was fighting against herself, and…

She _couldn't_ stop it.

Tears streaming down her face, desperation in her voice, clearly giving it everything she had. And Seo was still unable to stop herself from killing someone she'd do anything to save.

Dawn raced over, tried to pry Seo away, but was flung back hard enough that the world around her was fading in and out of focus.

She could hear Seo shouting at herself, through tears, "Stop! Stop it! Just stop—!"

Then there was silence.

Dawn got up. World coming back into focus. The Doctor was lying there, on the ground, beat up and injured and bloody… but Seo was gone.

Had popped out of existence.

"TARDIS," the Doctor groaned, managing to get up despite his injuries. Dawn ran over and helped him. "Must have phased Seo a half-second into the future. Trapped her there."

"Good," said Dawn.

"No, not good!" the Doctor snapped. "Haven't you been listening, Dawn? She's trying to kill herself!"

"She was trying to kill you, too!" Dawn said. She had a horrible sinking feeling inside herself, but she had to suck it up. "And the TARDIS won't let her kill herself, right? I mean, it's a living ship. And—"

"The TARDIS is terrified of Seo," the Doctor said. "And there's nothing the TARDIS can do to snap Seo out of this, anyways. It has to come from _us_." He hissed, as he stepped on his right foot, and felt something give. "Really thought she wouldn't be able to kill me. She must be stuck in this mode deeper than I thought."

"Because the situation she was built for and the situation that happened with the Daleks were too similar?" asked Dawn. She helped ease him off his bad foot. "Is that how it works?"

"No idea," the Doctor admitted. "Could be that. Or could be that Dalek brain-swapping machine did more damage to her than she originally thought."

Dawn hoped not.

If so… she and the Doctor might never get Seo back to herself.

The Doctor continued to stumble forwards, leaning on Dawn, as they headed out the door. "Console room. Have to try to convince the Old Girl to phase Seo back into our time. Then do something clever to—"

"Why didn't the guilt-thing work?" Dawn interrupted.

The Doctor paused. "Sorry?"

"Last time she flipped out, Alison flipped her back," said Dawn, "by taking the blame for everything Seo did while she was… you know. In Weapon-Mode. Seo figured out that the whole hell-goddess, can't-be-responsible-for-my-own-actions thing meant making her best friend take the blame, instead. And Seo turned herself back."

The Doctor thought this over. "No idea why that, either," he admitted. Sighed. "Suppose there are a lot of questions still left to answer, then." Perked up. "Still! Off to the console room, try to work out…!"

Then the TARDIS shook, wheezing and groaning.

As she launched herself into flight.


	8. Chapter 7

The first few times had been in the Axis.

But then, Seo had entered the real world. Discovered the voice in her head _wasn't_ her conscience, but some evil entity called Twilight — who was trying to make her to kill herself so it could take over her body.

She destroyed Twilight.

And everything changed.

Seo had been surprised at how different the transformation had felt, without Twilight in her mind.

The transformation… when Seo turned from a person into a mindless killer, and couldn't stop.

It was like… in losing Twilight, she really _had_ finally shed that last tendril of conscience. That last little bit holding her back, reminding her that what she was doing was evil and she should really be killing herself, right now. That was made worse by the fact that Seo's guilt and despair had grown astronomically, once she'd found out that no one she killed in the real universe would come back to life.

In the real universe, with no Twilight in her head… it was _so_ much easier to slip into Glory.

Seo had felt herself dropping into it, on that space ship with the alien who'd kidnapped five-year-olds. It had been warm. Comforting. Like stepping into another skin.

She'd freaked, after that.

Almost killed Alison and little David.

The only way to fight back against Glory was by preventing the transformation in the first place. Stopping herself from doing anything that could trigger it. Seo refused to use any ability beyond those she'd inherited from her parents. Had worked long hours painstakingly building up the shields and barriers she needed inside her mind, to make sure none of the Glory in her got out.

This was the real world, now.

Real universe.

And Seo was going to make sure she could save it without flipping out. She was going to make sure she could be a hero — a real hero — without turning herself into a killer.

Her efforts had worked.

Until the Furies. Until the Slitheen who'd tried to take Mom away, while Seo was too drained to do anything to stop it. Something deep down inside of her broke, and Seo was lost, again.

Killing.

And unable to stop.

Except… she _wasn't_ Glory. She could feel it more clearly, that time. No, if she was Glory, she'd never be so conscious and aware of what she was doing. Would have snapped that child Slitheen's neck without a second thought. Wouldn't be so determined to direct that power inside of her to save her family and friends.

So… if she wasn't Glory…

What _was_ she?!

What was making her do this? Was this what she was like, deep down inside?

Seo clung to that idea. Yes! That had to be it!

The personality she had, before, must have been some sort of façade, while the _real_ Seo, deep down inside, was _this._ Perhaps…

Perhaps flipping out like this hadn't been a mistake!

Perhaps this was the Seo the Monks had intended, all along.

Seo knew she was still a hell goddess, of course — she couldn't feel guilt, didn't care what she was doing. But that was good. It meant she could think. It meant she could gain enough control to direct this power and destruction, and hurt the jerks who tried to harm Mom, and… and…

Why was Seo trying to _fight_ that?!

Wasn't that what she'd wanted, all along? To defend the people she loved?

Maybe, Seo realized, she didn't need to flip back. Maybe she shouldn't fight against the transformation. This inner-self wasn't Glory, it was Seo! And that meant… that this was her ultimate form, her final destiny!

She decided to stay like this forever.

But then…

…Alison had burst into the room.

And Alison had been in tears. In pain. Hurting and taking on guilt and blame she shouldn't have to take. And Seo realized… _she_ was the one hurting her best friend, like this. Alison was being torn apart — and it was all Seo's fault! All her own stupid fault for giving in, letting this power consume her, and not fighting back against it.

Seo's fault for forgetting...

That she wasn't Seo.

She was Glory.

* * *

"It _should be_ impossible!" the Doctor insisted, as they hurried back towards the console room. The ship giving a final groan as it landed. "TARDIS can't usually fly herself!"

"You don't think Seo's flying it?" asked Dawn.

"Doubt it," the Doctor replied. "She doesn't know how. Unless her blind terror has somehow overloaded the telepathic circuits, in some sort of desperate…"

Both he and Dawn stopped, as they turned the corner, and discovered Oliver, in all its mechanical, black-glassed splendor, nicely nestled in a corner of the corridor.

The Doctor sighed. "Ah."

"I guess that answers that question," Dawn agreed.

Only one person who'd force the TARDIS to take off, and make sure it picked up her ship on the way.

The Doctor turned on his feet, then stumbled past Oliver and into the console room. The TARDIS giving off its normal ambient aliveness, around them.

As the engines ground to a halt, and a ping indicated that they'd landed.

"Question is… if _she's_ the one flying the ship," said the Doctor, stumbling to the central console and dragging up an image of the outside on the view screen, "then where…?"

He froze.

"Ah," said the Doctor. "Should have expected that."

"What?" said Dawn. She rushed over. "Is this the end of the universe or something? Did she…?"

Dawn stopped talking, as she noticed the image on the view screen. The TARDIS was in midair — hovering just above a gigantic crater in the middle of the California desert. A giant crater that Dawn recognized.

"I said she had Glory in her," the Doctor muttered. "And the one thing Glory wanted most…"

"Was to go home," Dawn finished. "To Sunnydale. Her birthplace."

Now just a gigantic crater.

"Go _home_ ," the Doctor muttered. "Not go to her birthplace."

"No," came Seo's voice, as she faded into existence, in the console room, beside them. Also staring at the view screen. "No! I can't go home!" She thudded a hand down on the console. "I told you I wanted you to lock me away forever, you stupid ship! What is wrong with you?"

Then Seo noticed that she was no longer alone.

Her face turning pale.

She spun on her heels, trying to throw herself out the TARDIS double doors, but the Doctor caught her by the wrist and spun her around to face him. Staring deep into her eyes.

"Stop trying to kill yourself," the Doctor demanded. "Twilight was _wrong_! There's another way."

"No!" Seo screamed. "I can't go home! I won't! I won't! I won't!" A lash of magical energy tore from her body and slammed into the Doctor, sending him toppling to the ground.

Seo shuddered back.

Then turned, and tried to run to the double doors. Her feet pounding against the grating in desperation, as she threw the doors open…

And Dawn lunged at Seo, tackling her onto the grating, away from the doors. Clamping onto Seo, tight as she could, so that to kill herself, Seo would have to kill Dawn, too.

Oh, she hoped that would be a deterrent…

"What is wrong with you?" Dawn demanded. "I thought you _wanted_ to go home! I thought…!"

Dawn trailed off.

As it finally struck her.

Home. Not Seo's birthplace. Her _home_ …

The Axis. Her prison for 98 years.

"You're trying to lock yourself out of the universe, again," Dawn realized. Looked out the double doors, and shuddered, as she realized exactly where they were hovering. "By coming here. To where it happened. Where the portal opened."

"But I can't," Seo said, again. Squirmed, trying to pry Dawn off of her. "I can't go home. I don't want to go home! I don't want to find my Key!"

Dawn stared at her.

As it all came together.

Remembering that time against the memory-altering whatever, when Dawn had accidentally drained Seo's soul, and Seo had said that she couldn't find her Key. Remembering the way Seo had sounded, the way she'd acted, back when she'd first defeated the Daleks. Remembering… how the TARDIS had tried to help, by picking up on the stray thoughts from Seo's mind that were…

"It's Glory," Dawn realized. "That's what brings you back! That's what snaps you out of it! You turn yourself into Glory!"

Dawn clutched Seo by the arms.

"Oh, my God, it makes sense!" Dawn cried. "That's why, when you flip into Weapon-Mode, you start talking like Glory. Acting like Glory. What we're seeing isn't the problem, it's the solution!"

Seo stared at Dawn. Those wide brown eyes still so scared. "But I don't want to be Glory," she said, her voice barely above a squeak.

"But you are!" Dawn cried. "That's what the Doctor said. You're _always_ Glory — even when you're normal. Glory wanted to find the Key! So when you go into Weapon-Mode, you use the part of you that's Glory to look through yourself and find the real you — your little bit of Key! — and drag it back to the surface! That's how you've been breaking the conditioning!"

It was totally ingenious, actually.

If Weapon-Mode used Glory's abilities and the Key's properties to make Seo invincible… who better to control and reverse them than the part of Seo that _was_ Glory and _was_ the Key?

"And earlier today, inside of Oliver," said Dawn, "you said you were scared you'd screw up the multiverse, unless you found your Key — found your Seo-self! That's what you really meant! And then I…"

Dawn trailed off.

As she realized.

"And then I told you to stop looking for your Key," said Dawn. "And you loved me. So you stopped."

That was what that whole conversation had actually meant. What Dawn should have figured out, sooner. That whatever Glory was inside of Seo… it was just as much a part of her as being 'the Key'.

And was just as desperate for love and approval as Seo was.

"I don't want to be Glory," said Seo. "I don't want to find my Key. You can't make me!"

Dawn got up. Gave a little laugh.

"Yeah, I _can_ ," she said. Took a knife out of her pocket, and stepped right beside the open TARDIS doors. Holding out her arm. "I've got Key blood, too, you know." She slashed the knife across her arm, making a fist so that the blood trickled down. "And it might not be the right point in time to make the full portal, but I'm betting… my blood, in this spot… gotta still make one hell of a bang."

Seo's eyes went wide. She tried to rush Dawn and grab her away from the edge, but the Doctor caught her, first. Held her back.

"Two dimensional nodes," the Doctor said, "and a Gallifreyan consciousness controlling them. You know that's the only way to stop the end of the universe."

Seo squeezed her eyes shut.

Clearly in turmoil. Not sure what to say. What to do. Not sure which battle to win, or which to keep fighting.

"It's your choice," the Doctor said.

Then the tension dropped from Seo's body, as she sighed.

Opened her eyes.

And rolled them, mildly annoyed. "Oh, just shut up! God!"

Seo shrugged the Doctor off of her, with an ease that showed her strength.

"I mean, I'm a hundred and one years old," Seo continued, dusting herself off, and strolling over to Dawn. "You think you'd let me live my friggin' life, already." She shot Dawn an expression that chilled Dawn to the core. An expression of ease, disinterest, and derangement that screamed 'Glory'.

Except… there was a little spark of something else in there.

A love for others too strong to ever keep down.

"And as for you, drama queen," said Seo, grabbing hold of Dawn's wrist, "just — stop acting like you're the center of the universe! I mean — like I even _care_ what you think!" She pulled Dawn towards her. Staring into her eyes. "Get this through your head. Only thing I care about… is finding my Key."

Dawn leaned in. "Good."

And as the blood splashed down through the air, a surge of power flooded them both. Washing across the air, flashing through every bit of Keyness inside both of them.

It was over.

As, down below, in the crater that was once Sunnydale, one single drop of harmless blood splashed into the dirt.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh, brilliant! You're awake!" Seo cried, racing into the room with a tray filled with food, and laying it down beside the Doctor. "Look! See? I baked you cookies. And made you tea. And fish fingers and custard. You like that, right? Or is that a different you?" She straightened his blanket, and adjusted some of his bandages. "I always get confused. With changed taste buds and all that. I know one of you really hates pears, but I can never remember which one. Although — I could get you a pear, if you want! Or I could not, if you don't! Anything you'd like, just say, and I'll zip right off, and get—"

"Seo," the Doctor interrupted, looking down at himself. Taking in that he was now lying on a couch in the library, nicely bandaged, a bouquet of flowers in a vase right beside him. The tray of home-cooked food. "Are you trying to nurse me back to health?"

Seo stepped back, a little uneasily. "I… might be."

The Doctor sat up, undoing the bandages to reveal completely undamaged skin. "You do realize that healing comas don't require any of this," he said. "And that, in all likelihood, the injuries were already healed even while you were bandaging them up?"

Seo shuffled a little, in place. "Well… it's just… I just… wanted to feel like I was helping. A little." Her eyes lit up, and she raced off, rushing back into the room while fluffing up a pillow. "I can make you more comfy! Or I could get you a book. Or make you more food, or refresh the flower, or…"

She caught the look on the Doctor's face — a sort of detached whimsy — and froze.

"What?" Seo asked.

"Nothing," the Doctor said, looking away. A small smile on his lips. "You just… have no idea how much you look like your mum, when you do that."

A horrible dread welled up inside of Seo.

Mom.

"I don't want to talk about her," Seo whispered. Hands clenching around the pillow.

Oh, she hadn't even thought about Mom! Mom was going to kill her for this! And then Mom was going to tell Jack, and Jack was going to kill her for this! And she was never going to be able to go home, ever again, and she'd be on the run the rest of her life, and…

Home.

She loved going home.

Loved see Mom and Alison and Jack. And Martha's family. Loved hearing the hum of the Torchwood hub and smelling the charcoal smell of Mom burning dinner because she was trying to both cook and chase a Graske at the same time. Loved the pleasant little humming Giles made when they went over to his place to do research, and he flipped through books that smelled of old and dust and time…

That was home.

And — like Glory — sometimes Seo thought she'd do _anything_ to be able to go back there, again.

"Aunt Dawn said that… you thought… I was always Glory," said Seo, very quietly. "Even when I was normal."

The Doctor sat up on the couch, continuing to unwrap unnecessary bandages from his head. "Well, you are. To a certain extent. Always Glory." The Doctor glanced up at her. "But you're also always you. And you balance her out well."

Seo bit her lower lip. Staring at the ground.

"Except," she whispered, "when I turn into an evil killing machine that can't stop myself from beating you up."

The Doctor paused, a moment, hand on his bandage. Noticing Seo's expression. "Ah," he said. He scooted over on the couch. Pat the area beside him. "I think it's time we had a little chat about that, actually."

* * *

Dawn stared at the date on the view-screen. The date of the Doctor's death.

She kicked the central console.

"Change, damn it!" she demanded. Kicked it again, just to make sure it got the message. "I didn't tell him! I was good! I made sure he wouldn't reunite with Buffy or anything!"

It kept on projecting that date.

"So what the hell is wrong with you?" Dawn shouted. She grabbed up the monitor, and shook it with both hands. "The Doctor doesn't have to die! He doesn't know, this isn't going to happen, so… so… stop with the melodramatic doomsayer already!"

Still nothing.

Dawn wanted to smash the TARDIS with a pickaxe. "Is it the Daleks?" she shouted. "Some great big lightning bolt dropping out of the sky? Another Seo freak-out?!" She shook the monitor, again. "Too many people have died today! I'm not letting anyone else die!"

"Everyone has to die, sometime," the Doctor announced, walking into the console room. He tried to make it look light and cheerful, like it didn't bother him at all. Maybe, if he hadn't tried so hard to brush it off, it wouldn't have seemed so forced. "Well. Maybe not Jack. But everyone else."

Seo followed him in. Still looking seriously guilty, but maybe a little wiser.

"Had a bit of a chat," the Doctor continued, patting Seo on the back. "Got her a bit more enlightened on what's going on with this 'weapon-mode' of hers, and how she can more effectively combat it. And your ship… your 'Oliver'… is working, again. Just try to keep Seo away from Daleks for a few weeks, and everything will be right as rain!"

Dawn gave him a huge smile. "That's great!" she said. The smile turned into a determined stare. "We're not leaving."

The Doctor blinked. "Sorry?"

Dawn shoved the monitor at him. "This says you're gonna die," she said. "And if you think the two of us are just going to zoom off somewhere and ignore that, then you've got a date with the Oncoming Dawn!"

The Doctor sighed. "Dawn," he said. "It's a fixed point in time. There's nothing you can…"

"Oh, yeah?" said Dawn. She gestured at Seo. "She's part Glory. I'm the Key. You've already told us we're the most dangerous people in the universe. And the Daleks thought so, too. So I'm thinking, if Seo and I are that powerful together, let's take this TARDIS to Utah, 2012, right now, so Seo and I can kick some serious evil-guy butt, before…"

"Aunt Dawn," said Seo, quietly. "We can't."

Then Seo turned, head down, and made her way back to Oliver.

Dawn chased after her, shocked. "But there's no way we can just leave and let—"

"He says it's a fixed point in time," said Seo, trudging out of the console room and towards her ship. "So we can't change it. That's against the rules."

"Since when do you care about breaking the rules?" said Dawn. "You're the one always telling me that we can just fudge the time travel guidelines and hope nobody notices!"

Seo took out her key, and unlocked her ship. Glancing over Dawn's shoulder, at her father.

"I learned my lesson," she said.

And slipped inside.

* * *

"Look, Seo," Dawn insisted, as Oliver launched back into the Vortex. "That whole Doctor-dying-thing is _my_ fault! I almost told the Doctor something I shouldn't have, and now, as a result, he's doomed! I've got to save…!"

"Of course we do!" Seo hissed, tapping frantically at a screen on the console, as it hooked up to different galactic networks. "But we don't say we're going to break the rules in front of the person who _made_ them!"

Dawn stopped.

Oh.

Grinned.

"So we _are_ going to try to stop the Doctor from dying?" Dawn asked. She rushed over to where Seo was still tapping away. "And we're going to be sneaky and strategic so we don't make the universe fall apart, right?"

"Naturally," said Seo. She turned on Dawn. "Look, it's simple. If my theory's correct, that spot's only fixed because my father's gotten his timelines all muddled together and mucked about with. He must have interfered with his own past, thus setting up a situation that would result in his own death. Or… something like that."

Dawn had no idea what that meant.

But she was liking the whole making-sure-the-Doctor-didn't-die thing.

"So where are we going?" asked Dawn.

Seo slammed down a lever. "To where it all began, before it ever started. Hopefully, before my father ever even got involved." Her eyes twinkled, as she gestured at the console screen she'd been using. "Time to find the group calling itself 'the Silence'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the story! Next up, "Sunglasses". And then... we'll get back to Dawn and Seo, as they try to get at the Silence.
> 
> (For all you who've seen the Christmas Special, I'll just point out that Seo, not knowing Kovarian was using time travel, would naturally assume (erroneously) that the furthest point back in time that she could find a group calling itself "the Silence" would be its beginnings. See? It's a character flaw! It definitely had nothing to do with me needing to race back and rewrite much of the Season after watching the Christmas special. Nope! Nothing at all.)
> 
> (...grumble grumble grumble...)


End file.
